Pipe-wrench.



L. I. PITZGERALD.

1 PIPE. WRENUH. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1910 Patented June 13, 1911 d M m Z I w l WITNESSES ATTORNEYS LEO F. FITZGERALD, OF COALINGA, CALIFORNIA.

PIPE-WRENCH.

T all whom it may concern:

, Be it known thatl, LEO F. FITZGERALD,

a citizen of the United States, and a residehtpf Coalinga, in the county of Fresno and Statmof California, have invented a new and Iimved Piperench, of which the following is a" full, clear, and exact description. f

This invention relates to wrenches for handling pipes, oil well casings and the like, and has reference more particularly to a device of this class comprising a handle, a head secured thereto and having a gripping jaw, a flexible member having one end movably secured to the handle, and means whereby the other end of said flexible member can be adjustably and removably secured to said handle.

The object of the invention is .to provide a simple, strong and durable wrench which can be used as an ordinary pipe Wrench, and can serve as tongs for handling oil well casings and like bodies of rounded cross section, which can be easily manipulated, which.

' can be employed with. pipes or other objects of different sizes, which can be quickly adjusted, and by means of which the pipe or other object can be securely grippedand held without slipping from the wrench.

The invention consists of the construction and combination of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which drawings like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of my invention having a part thereof in cross section on the line 11 of Fig. 2, and showing the wrench in operation; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the wrench; Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of part of the flexible member; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the gripping jaw.

Before proceeding to a more detailed explanation of my invention, it should be clearly understood that while the device is intended primarily for use as a casing tongs or handle for oil well casings and like objects, it can also be applied to the ordinary purposes of a pipe wrench commonly socalled. The flexible member which 1 cmploy with the wrench consists preferably of Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 13, 1911.

Application filed November 4, 1910.

Serial No. 590,615.

a chain of the form illustrated for example herein. However, this and others of the details of construction can be varied according to individual preference and special conditions, without departing from the underly ing spirit of the invent-ion.

Referring more particularly to the drawlngs, I provlde a handle 10, consisting of an elongated member such as an iron bar 3 n I tapered form, and having a flattened and reduced end 11, and adjacent thereto a part 12 of circular cross section. A collar or swivel ring 13 is mounted upon the part 12 of the handle, and has a slot 14: extending substantially half way around it and receiving a stop pin or screw 15, which permits the collar to be turned half way in either direction about the handle. The flexible member 16 consists of a plurality of links 17. One end link is pivotally secured to an car 18 of the collar 13, by means of a pivot screw or rivet 19. The links 17 of the chain are formed from elongated members 20, each having one end inwardly offset. The screws or rivets 21 by means of which the links are pivotally connected, have sleeves 22, the ends of which are received in recesses 23 at the inner faces of the off-set ends of the members 20. Each of the members 20 about the opening 21 through which the corresponding rivet or bolt 21 passes, has an outwardly disposed boss 25 received in a correspondingly formed recess 26 at the inner face of the adjacent member 20, as is shown most clearly in Fig. 3.

I employ a wrench head 27 of crescent form having the central portion 28 cut away, and provided with spaced cheeks or sides 29 between which is received the end 11 of the handle 10. The cheeks have slots 30 of circular form in which are received the ends of a t 'ansverse pin 31 carried by the extremity 11 of the handle. The latter is bifurcated and receives between the sides thereof an extension 32 of a jaw member 83, 100

which fits loosely in the cut-away portion 28 of the head. The extension 32 is pivotally secured at the end of the handle by means of a pin 38. The jaw member 33 has transverse under-cut grooves or slots 34: of 105 ment. At each side the end 11 of the handle 11 has an inwardly inclined prong or lug 36, at which can be secured any one of the links of the chain.

The crescent-shaped or similarly rounded part of the head, together with the jaw member 13, constitutes the jaw of the wrench and is adapted to engage the rounded surface of the object. The flexible member 16 is extended around the object in the usual manner and is tightened thereupon, one of the links being secured at the side of the handle remote from the object. By pressing upon the handle in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the chain is tightened so that it and the jaw are forced tightly against a pipe or casing 37, or other object, to permit this to be turned with the wrench. As the slots 30 are substantially concentric with the pivot pin 38, the chain will be tightened when the handle is moved in the direction of the arrow to pivot about the pin 38, the ends of the pin 31 being free to move in the slots 30.

The head of the wrench is removable, so that heads of difierent sizes can be used for different pipes or the like. To render the head interchangeable, the pins 31 and 38 are removable. I prefer to provide the head, at the ends, with grooves 27*, which are shown in Fig. 1, and in which the flexible member is received as is indicated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a handle, the head having a slotted, pivotal connection therewith and having a loosely mounted aw member, a flexible member having at one end a swivel connection with said handle, and means whereby the other end of said flexible member can be removably secured to said handle.

2. A device of the class described comprising a handle, a head pivotally secured at the end thereof, a aw member loosely associated with said head and pivotally connected with said handle inwardly, and a flexible member secured at one end to said handle and adapted to have the other end removably secured to said handle.

3. A device of the class described comprising a handle, a head having a movable connection with said handle, a jaw member loosely associated with said head and positively connected with said handle only, a flexible member having at one end a swivel connection with said handle, and means whereby the other end of said flexible member can be removably and adjustably secured to the said handle. I

4. A device of the class described comprising a handle, a headhaving a curved slot, said handle havinga projection movably received in said slot; a jaw member associated with said head and having a pivotal connection with said handle, said pivotal connection being concentric with said slot, a flexible member secured at one end to said handle, and means whereby the other end of said flexible member can be removably and adjustably secured to said handle.

5. A device of the class described, comprising a handle, a head having a recess receiving the end of said handle, and provided with a curved slot, said handle having a part movably received in said slot, a jaw member loosely mounted in said recess of said head and pivotally connected with said handle, and a flexible member secured at one end to said handle, said handle having means whereby the other end of said flexible member can be removably and adjustably attached to said handle.

In witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEO F. FITZGERALD.

lVit-nesses H. H. STEELE, W. V. VIOKLINE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

